The Conservatives must become the party of Britain's ethnic minority voters

In her first few weeks as Prime Minister, Theresa May has made clear her intention to win over traditional Labour voters.Her first speech in Downing Street focused on the need to improve the lives of ordinary working people, rather than the privileged few – a direct pitch to the kind of communities, particularly in the north and Midlands, that Labour used to take for granted.

Such a bold endeavour, for reasons of both principle and pragmatism, needs to be supplemented by a particular effort to reach out to the section of the population that has been historically most resistant to supporting the Conservatives: Britain’s diverse black and minority ethnic (BME) communities.

In fact, the Conservative Party has never succeeded in winning a significant proportion of Britain’s ethnic vote. For most immigrants and their families, the default position has been to vote Labour.

The Tories were seen, whether fairly or not, as being at best indifferent and at worst hostile. During the 1980s, it mattered less: most BME voters were heavily concentrated in inner city constituencies where the Tories had little chance of success.

Things have changed. Senior Conservatives recognise that they cannot credibly claim to be a One Nation party while failing to attract BME support and, under David Cameron, the Tories began to make inroads.

In 2015, the Conservatives secured a record high of 21 per cent of BME voters- double the figure from a decade earlier. But this advance was primarily limited to Indian and Bangladeshi communities where the party now attracts a third of the vote.

Importantly, even in ethnic minority communities that experienced a significant rise in living standards, this appears to have had a limited effect on voting behaviour. Labour remains the dominant force.

And BME voters are moving to marginal constituencies. At the next General Election, half of the top 25 target seats for the Conservatives will have ethnic minority populations of over 20 per cent. In some seats, such as Harrow West, that proportion is above 50 per cent.

Over the last decade, there have been some successful and welcome Party initiatives. Groups like the Conservative Friends of India have become very active. Senior Conservative Ministers are regularly seen engaging with BME communities and attending high profile festivals for different minority communities.

David Cameron set the tone by hosting a variety of diverse cultural events and religious celebrations at Downing Street. Crucially, increased engagement has also been mirrored by a sharp increase in the number of BME Tory MPs and councillors.

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What has been missing are two things: an electoral strategy – deciding which groups can be won over most readily to the Conservative cause, and a political strategy – deciding which issues and policies are most likely to increase support.

Fortunately, there is a successful centre-right model that the party can look to for inspiration. In Canada, over a ten-year period, Canada's Conservatives grew support among their own ethnic minority communities from 10 per cent to 40 per cent. This was, in part, achieved by a serious and long-term engagement programme, led by their Citizenship Minister, Jason Kenney MP.

Another key factor was the development of a raft of new policies that were electorally appealing based on the understanding that there is not one single BME block of voters but many different communities with diverse histories, attitudes and expectations.

With Labour in disarray, the Conservative Party has a unique opportunity. Britain’s ethnic minority communities are more open to switching than ever before. Theresa May will surely seize the initiative.

Kulveer Ranger and Binita Mehta-Parmar are Directors of Modern Britain, a new campaign group launching this Thursday.